Summer drought stunts holiday growth for Christmas tree farmers

By Matthew Hibbard – Social Engagement Manager , St. Louis Business Journal

Dec 20, 2012, 2:48pm CST

The extreme heat this summer was anything but jolly for Missouri Christmas tree farmers.

Vernon Spaunhorst, owner of Heritage Valley Tree Farm, said he lost about $10,000 in Christmas tree sales due to the extreme heat. Spaunhorst has a total of 80 acres in Washington, Mo., with about 30 acres devoted to growing a variety of Christmas trees. This year, he sold about 1,500 trees, down from 1,700 sold last year. To combat the decrease in product, Spaunhorst said he paid between $400 to $500 to purchase 100 pre-cut trees from a farm in Michigan.

The extreme heat also forced Spaunhorst to purchase $1,000 worth of drip lines, above the normal amount they usually buy, to keep his trees alive. In addition, Spaunhorst had to install a larger well pump, which set him back $1,100. Spaunhorst said he was able to offset some of the costs by participating in Gov. Jay Nixon’s assistance program to farmers, which paid the remaining $1,600.

The above-average temperatures also hurt sales at Pea Ridge Forest. The tree nursery, near Hermann, Mo., is much larger than Heritage Valley Tree Farm at about 350 acres. That farm has about 80 acres devoted to growing Christmas trees.

LeRoy Rood, owner of Pea Ridge, said the farm expects an initial loss of about $15,000 in Christmas tree sales. Rood said the farm lost about 4,000 to 5,000 seedlings planted in the spring and was forced to play catch-up by planting in the fall.

The drought impacted Rood’s water bill too. The farm has two wells and Rood said he had to shell out between $500 to $600 to keep the wells at full power between May and September. He said his electricity bill usually costs about $150 to power both wells during that time frame.

Rick Dungey, public relations manager for the Chesterfield-based National Christmas Tree Association, said nationally the drought conditions did not impact tree sales. He said trees harvested and sold this year were planted well before the summer drought and as such are able to tolerate harsher weather patterns.

Last year, 30.8 million Christmas trees were sold, up from 27 million in 2010, according to the latest NCTA consumer survey.

By Matthew Hibbard – Social Engagement Manager , St. Louis Business Journal